Rohnert Park resident IDd as razor-wielding woman shot by police

A woman shot and killed by Rohnert Park police over the weekend has been identified as 31-year-old Heather Billings, authorities said today.

Billings was shot three times in the chest by Officer Robert Lankford about 4 p.m. Sunday at her home on the 7000 block of Cornell Avenue, authorities said.

Police were called to the home by Billings' mother, who said her daughter had been drinking and "might have some psych issues," said Santa Rosa police, who are investigating the case. Billings hit her in the face earlier and was "tearing things up around the house," the mother told police.

Billings also cut her own arm earlier in the day and was bleeding, authorities said. About five seconds before the first officer arrived, Billings cut herself again, her mother told a 911 operator, according to police.

Lankford heard screaming from inside the home when he arrived, entered through the unlocked front door and found Billings bleeding from her left arm and armed with a straight-edged razor, police said.

Lankford told her to drop the blade, but when she did not and began moving toward the officer, he opened fire, authorities said. Billings died on the way to a hospital.

Police said Rohnert Park public safety officers have responded to the home 29 times since 2004 for a variety of reasons, including previous disturbances involving Billings and her mother.

Lankford has been a Rohnert Park officer for 11 months and was a California Highway Patrol officer for six years before that. In addition to Santa Rosa police, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department and district attorney's office are investigating the shooting.